Are you on the right airplane? On the right ladder?

Hey Friends…

Imagine this: You settle into your airline seat, take a much-needed nap, munch on tasty snacks, and dream about all the amazing things you’re going to do on your long-awaited tropical vacation. Then the airplane lands. As you pull up to the terminal, you suddenly discover you’re not in the Bahamas as you expected. Or paid for. You’re in Detroit. And it’s not to catch a connecting flight. It is your final destination. (No offense to you Michiganders, but is Detroit really your first vacation choice?) Now what? When it comes to our spiritual lives, is it possible for Christ-followers to put all the right effort into getting where you want to be, only to find yourself in the wrong position and nowhere to turn? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below…
 
But first…. Three important dates for the calendar:
 
·      Are you interested in becoming a “Covenant Partner” of Mt. Hope? Traditionally thought of as “church membership,” those who make a covenant of partnership with the mission, values, and ministry of Mt. Hope are those who own the direction of our church. Join us for a no-commitment orientation on Sunday, August 11, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., lunch included! Click here to let me know you’re interested. For those who are traveling that weekend and can’t make that date, click here anyway and we’ll line up an alternate time to get you oriented!
 
·      Join us for a super-important all-church information, vision, and business session right after church on Sunday, August 18, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. We will present and discuss our status and next steps with the potential expansion of our facility. We will share, process, and pray about next steps in our ministry. Our Covenant Partners will vote regarding our fiscal year ‘24-’25 budget, vote regarding contracts with architects and civil engineers, and elect new members to our administrative board. All are welcome, and we always have fun with these meetings!
 
·      Kids & Parents—mark your calendar for an important after-church parent’s luncheon on Sunday, August 25, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. We will explore your ideas and family needs for long-range planning of our kids and family life ministries. We’ll share what’s upcoming this fall, and have you help co-create our direction for the future. This is a don’t miss event… yummy lunch provided!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to roll the dice on your travel plans.  BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
When I was thirty, I met a VERY rich fellow. He had boarded the wrong flight and climbed the wrong ladder.
 
His name was Glenn. When he was young, he took a massive risk and bought 8 square miles of empty farmland in rural Loudoun County. He drew some maps of what could be done with 5,100 vacant acres. And then he sold it all to some people who built what he had drawn. He named it “Ashburn Village.”
 
When I met Glenn, he was 60. He was a multi-multi-millionaire.
 
Glenn had gathered a couple-dozen young adults at his mansion in McLean to share some wisdom. By this time in life, he was a serious follower of Jesus. But his bold faith in Jesus came out of a profound crisis—a moment when he realized he had been on the wrong airplane all along.
 
Here’s the metaphor he used: “I spent my entire life trying to climb the ladder,” he told us wide-eyed young adults who were still admiring the marble floors in his palatial home, “only to discover when I got to the top of the ladder, it was leaning against the wrong wall.”
 
Glenn had made his life all about the pursuit of wealth. Money was his hobby, his vocation, his dream, his goal. And he got it. He won.
 
It wasn’t at all what he thought it would be. That was when he turned to Jesus.
 
There is a moment recorded in the Bible where the whole world will realize they’re on the wrong airplane. Their ladder is against the wrong wall. (I know I’m mixing metaphors.) I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be in that crowd. I don’t want the terrifying disappointment of realizing everything I built was absolutely not what I thought it would be.
 
Here’s the Bible’s metaphor: In a powerful vision, God revealed to John the Apostle a great city that was called Babylon. It was “a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit” (Revelation 18:2). That sounds scary, doesn’t it?
 
Hidden in this great city were all the systems of power and wealth and luxury and excess—everything the world thinks is important, the ladder everyone is trying to climb. “The merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries” (Revelation 18:3).
 
Then the truth comes out. Babylon is not the good everyone hopes for. In God’s game plan, Babylon will fall. Then “the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury…will weep and mourn over her… The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more… They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered’” (Revelation 18:9-14).
 
“So what’s the good news in any of this, Chris? You really want me to come to church tomorrow and hear about all this misery?”
 
I’m glad you asked. All this negativity is not for us.
 
As John saw this image of collapsing Babylon, there was a “roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (Revelation 19:1). The joy of the angels and the elders in heaven over us is tremendous. “Praise our God, all you his servants… Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready…. Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:5-9).
 
Friends, pick your preferred metaphor. We do not have to be on the wrong airplane. We do not have to climb the wrong ladder. We do not have to live in the wrong city. We get to fly with Jesus, to climb with Jesus, to live with Jesus.
 
But there is one choice we must make to be certain we are on the right flight, on the right ladder, in the right city.
 
Wanna know what that one choice is? It sounds important, doesn’t it?
 
Here’s where I bait you into coming to church tomorrow. I will tell you. The instructions are super clear. The choice is singular. We need to know it. We need to make it. And in that one choice, our hope is fundamental and secure. Our destination will be awesome.
 
Dig around Revelation 18 and 19 in advance. You might find the challenge on your own. But let’s explore it together. The angels are filled with joy for us. We’ll discover it, too.
 
10:00 a.m. tomorrow in-person (best!) or online livestream (if you’re stranded in Detroit). Here we go!!
 
Much love to all…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend